Industry News

China Prolongs Anti-Dumping Duty on Imported Rubber

Ministry of Commerce (MOC) in China has extended the anti-dumping duty rates on chloroprene rubber imports from Japan, the US and the EU. The increased tax is levied for next five years. The imports from these countries could harm the domestic industry as the imported products were being dumped on the Chinese market at lower-than-market prices. Initially the anti-dumping duties were foisted in 2005, followed by an extension review in 2011. Chloroprene rubber has wide applications in manufacturing of electrical cables and waterproof products. According to MOC, the anti-dumping duties for imports from Japan range from 10.2% to 43.9%, whereas those for the US manufacturers is 151% and imports from European companies range from 11% to 151%.

Industrial products account for the largest end use industry for chloroprene rubber, governing around 69% share in the global chloroprene rubber market in 2016. Within the industrial sector, automotive sector controlled around 70% share in the global chloroprene market. With leading producers of chloroprene including Changshou Cehmical and Shanan Synthetic Rubber, China controlled around 15% of the global chloroprene rubber manufacturing capacity in 2016. Additionally, majority of the chloroprene rubber produced in China is consumed domestically and only a limited quantity is exported to other countries. Various leading players in Japan such as DENKA and Showa Denko, DuPont Performance Elastomer in the US and Lanxess and Nairit Planat in Europe present higher production capacity of chloroprene, thereby possessing threat to the domestic market of China.

According to “China Synthetic Rubber MarketForecast & Opportunities, 2020”, the synthetic rubber market in China is projected to cross US$ 12 billion by 2020. This growth is anticipated on the back of continuously rising production output of the domestic tyre industry along with increasing demand for synthetic rubber from various other industries, such as polymer modification, footwear, asphalt modification and adhesives. Major global tyre manufacturers have set up their production facilities in China, in order to capitalize on the growing synthetic rubber demand in the country. Sinopec Corporation and PetroChina are the largest players operating in the synthetic rubber market of the country. Few of the other major global players having business presence in China include TSRC Corporation, LCY Chemical Corp. and Lanxess.